Cannery exhaust-box.



F. A. TWIGHELL.

GANNERY EXHAUST BOX.

APPLICATION FILED AUG 2o, i914.

LMZA'B. Patented 1360.22, 1.914.n

FRANK A. TWICHELL, OF SEATTLE, lASHING-TON, ASSIGNOR TO SAN JUAN FISHING& PACKING COMPANY, INC., OF SEATTLE. WASHINGTON, A CORPORATION OF WASH-INGTON.

CANNERY EXHAUST-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 22, 1914i.

To mit whom 't may concern Be it known that FRANK A. TWICHELL, citizenot the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King andState of Washington, have invented certain new and useful improvementsin Cannery Exhaustloxes; and l do hereby declare the following` to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appcrtains to mal-:e and use thesame.

This invention relates to devices for steri lining cans or cooking thecontents thereof in the exhaust box of a canning machine, and the objectof the same is to provide means for adjusting the width of the channelsor tracks in such ane-xhaust box so that various sizes ot cans may behandled successfully. This object is carried out by means of a removablefiller or a series of such fillers adapted to be passed over thepartitions between the channels or 'traeks, and the invention lies inthe construction and use of such fillers, all as hereinafter more.ttully described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings wherein z-Figure l is a plan View of part of an exhaust box of a canning machinewith its cover or closure'removed, showing largesized cans in certain ofthe channels or tracks, medium-sized cans in other channels which latterare reduced by means of my im` proved filler, and` small-sized cans inyet other channels; and Fig. 2 is a cross section through Fig. 1 on theline 2--2- Fig. '3 is a bottom plan view of one of the fillers. Fig. '1Lis an end elevation of a special form of filler as describedhereinafter.

The exhaust box B illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings may be of anysuitable type, but oi. necessity it has longitudinal partitions Pupstanding from its bottom, the latter being closed except for .groovesG along the length of the channels between said partitions whichconstitute tracks T wherein move the cans C which are to be treated, andin said grooves (i are mounted the devices tor moving the cans, hereinshown as endless cables E preferably of wire or other construction whichrun in the grooves and rise above the surface of the bottom ot the boxso that the cans rest thereon. I may 'Say that in general practice thecans are fed into one end. or ratherone corner of the box B (not shownin the drawings), travel down the track T on one side of the same, arecarried around the end of the adjacent partition P by any suitable meanssuch as the disk l) which causes them to move laterally i to the nexttrack between said partition;v

and the next partition wherein they travel in the opposite direction ortoward the inlet end ot' the box, and then they move around the end ofthe second partition into the third track, and this action is continuedso that the cans tra-vel av zigzag course throughout the length of thebox B and are finally delivered at the corner diagonally opposite thatfrom which they are fed, near the letter G in Fig. l. Meanwhile they aresubjected to heat by any suitable means forming no part of the presentinvention, so that the cans if empty may be sterilized or it filledtheir` contents may be cooked or otherwise treated. This is the usualfunction oi the exhaust box in a canning machine, and it is the objectof the present invention to provide means whereby the channels or tracksT may be altered in width so that cans of various sizes may be treatedin such a box. Heretofore these tracks have been of a standard widthadapting 4them to cans of an ordinary size, say those containing onepint. It was manifestly such a box with larger cans because the)T wouldnot pass into the tracks. lVhen smallercans were to be used,'it wasfound that they jammed within the tracks T and prevented the successfulaction of the device, or it they did travel along against one partitionor side wall ot any track, the use of he endless carrier l0 caused themto rotate partly as they moved along, with`the result that eventuallythey did become jammed and the machine had to be stopped to correct thedifficulty.

Coming now more particularly to the details of the present invention, Ipropose to build my exhaust box with the partitions P spaced such adistance apart that the tracks T are adapted to the largestsize otcanssay those containing one quart-and these cans are usuallycylindrical although it is not beyond possibilities that this machinemight handle cans of other contour. When now it is desired that theexhaust box shall handle' *.ans ot a smaller circumference than vthosejust mentioned, it is obviously necessary to reduce the width of thetracks T to avoid the difficulty above mentioned. Such apossible to useY reduction I accomplish by means of the imp-roved filler illustrated inthe drawings. This filler l has 'a U-shaped body whose channel 2 is of asize to closely it upon the partition P when the iiller is inverted asbest seen in Fig. '2v lIn this view the body l is shown as solid,whereas in Fig. 3 the body 3 is shown as made of sheet metal and bentinto U-forin as above described, but in order to make its channel fitmore closely uponthe partition I, lugs or projectionset are formed uponthe inner faces of the side walls of the body at intervals so that' thespaces 5 between the inner faces of the pairs of lugs are of the samewidth as .the channel 2in the solid members, and can, easily pass overthe partitions I. In depth the side walls of each filler are such thatthey pass down to or nearly to the bottom of the exhaust box, althoughit is quite possible that the bottom of each channel rests upon theupper edge of the partitions P. All corners are by preference slightlyrounded off so that the workman may not injure himself on them andnothing can catch thereon. The material of which the filler is composedis not essential,V

but it should be something that will withstand the te1npeature to whichit is subjected in the exhaust box. I would not have the bend of thefiller very thick, or otherwise it would rise to a considerable distanceabove the upper edge of the partition and might interfere with themanual handling of the cans which is sometimes necessary; but thisdetail is unimportant. At each end each filler is preferably rounded oiton one side as shown at 6 in Fig. 3, the rounded ends permitting themovement of the cans from one track T around the end of this partitionand its filler and to the adjacent track wherein they move in theopposite direction in some types of these exhaust boxes, as is wellknown. If thelugs 4 are employed, I would by preference have a pair ofthem adjacent each end so that the filler will be reliably held upon thepartitions. I do not find it ordinarily necessary to provide any meansfor holding the filler in place on the partitions, as if made of castiron its weight l 50 is sufficient, vespecially if the lugs or the innerfaces of the side walls of the channelA 2 iit the partitions ratherclosely. In fact, ifl the device be made of sheet metal as shown inFig.3 and its side walls be provided with internal lugs or projections atcertain points, it may be that the spaces 5 between their inner facescan be a little less than the width of the partition so that in` puttingthe fillers into places they will have to be opened slightly to bepassed down over thev partitions. In that event the spring action of thesheet metal filler will hold it in place4 against all ordinarycontingencies tending to displace it.

While it is obvious that the use of fillers of proper thickness mayreduce a track 'I from its maximum size wherein we will say quart canstravel nicely, to its next smaller size wherein we will say pint canstravel with equal ease and are always centered over they carrier Ewhatever type of carrier is employed, it is obvious that along the sideof the box B a special'form of filler might be employed, as shown inFig. 1. In this case the inner wall (whether it be solid or providedwith the lugs 4- shown in Fig. 3) is of a thickness corresponding to theadjacent -wall of the filler on the nearest partition. but

width of the tracks T so that the box may handle cans of smaller sizeand keep them yet centered over the conveying mechanism E in each track,I make use of the improved fillers above described. One is brought intoplace and slipped over each partition I), and

y one over each side wall S unless there be no machinery or other yreason why a special form of filler shall here be employed as shown inFig. 4. Care must be taken to dispose the rounded ends 6 of the fillerswith reference to the direction in which .the cans pass out of one trackaround the end of the partition adjacent and in the other direction inthe next track. However, if the exhaust box be of such type that it is asingle long channel or track, long fillers or a plurality of fillerseither of the type shown in Fig. 3 or that shown in Fig. 4, be employed`and the rounded ends 6 maj,l be omitted or it used will form noobstruction. The cans are now fed into the inlet end of the exhaust boxand subjected to heat in a well-known manner, and it will be found thatthe use of these improved fillers keeps these cans in line, holds themconstantly centered over the carrying mechanism E. prevents jamming ofthe cans in place. and converts a. box having wide tracks into onehaving narrow tracks, while yet leaving it possible to restore thetracks to their original width when larger cans are again to be handled.

What is claimed as new is:-

1. In an exhaust box for canning machines, having channels or tracksseparated by upright partitions, iller strips of inverted U-shaped crosssection adapted to be mounted on said partitions to reduce the Width ofthe channels o: tracks.d

2. In an exhaust lbox for canning maby upright partitions,

. ness of saidpartitions, for the purpose set forth.

3. In an exhaust box for canning ma chines, having channels or tracksseparated by upright partitions, removable filler strips for saidpartitions consisting of @shaped sheet metal bodies whose side Walls arespaced farther apart than the Width of said partitions, and lugs atintervals carried by the inner faces of the side Walls of said bodyportion and disposed in pairs at the ends' thereof, the lugs beingspaced to receive said partitions When the fillers are invertedthereover, for the purpose set forth.

L In a canning machine, the combination with an exhaust box having aseries of longitudinal partitions producing interposed tracks, and meansfor moving the cans along the tracks, each end of each filler one track,around the end of a partition, and

along the next track in the opposite direction; of a series of fillersof inverted U- shaped cross section adapted to be slippedl over saidpartitions to reduce the Width of being rounded for the purpose setforth.

In a canning niachine, the combination with an exhaust box havingupright sides,

a bottom, and a series of longitudinal partitions, and means for movingthe cans Within the tracks or channels between said partitions; of aseries of inverted U-shaped filler bars adapted to be slipped over saidpartitions vto reduce the Width of said tracks, and special fillers ofsimilar shape for the sides of the box, the outer walls being of lessthickness than the inner Walls, for the purpose set forth.

in testimony whereof I alix iny signature in presence of two witnesses.FRANK A. TWICHELL. lVitnesses 1 G.` WARD KEMP, C. C. PHILLIPS.

@opter of this 'patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner or retenus.

Washington, D. G.

